Flesh and Blood
by mwendyr
Summary: Alex struggles to come to terms with the shooting of Chance Slaughter. Spoilers for Proud Flesh. Sequel to Meet the Parents. C3 & C4 is up
1. Chapter 1

Sequel to Meet the Parents, as part of my Mike/Alex series

Summary: Alex struggles with the aftermath of the shooting Chance Slaughter

Spoilers: Season 5, Proud Flesh (which I haven't seen in absolutely ages so I hope there are no incorrect details)

Pairing: Mike/Alex (obviously) ;)

A/N: I'm not sure if they are OOC in this one or not, so I apologise now if they are.

Reviews: Yes, please and a huge thank you to all those that have already done so. :)

**Flesh and Blood**

"Isn't that what sons are for?" Jonas Slaughter coldly told Bobby Goren, the winter weather biting somewhat. Jonas pushed himself into the back seat of the car and Bobby watched them drive off suddenly thinking about his father, or lack thereof. He slowly turned around to the mass of people, media and cops that swarmed the steps of the courthouse. There was only one person he was looking for; his partner.

He couldn't see her at first, there was such a huge media circus surrounding the body of Chance Slaughter, who had been shot by Alex Eames when he'd pulled out a weapon with the apparent intention of shooting Anna, Jonas' wife.

The reason he couldn't find her was because she was not with the huge group of people. Bobby spotted her slowly walking towards the SUV, which was parked a little further down the street. He could tell from the way she was walking that she was in shock, he knew he had to get to her before she got in the drivers seat. Without a seconds hesitation he took off, chasing after her.

He was a little out of breath when he caught up with her, putting a hand on her shoulder, he gave it a gentle squeeze to reassure her the best way he knew how. Just showing her that he was there for her, if she wanted or needed the support. She turned to him and he offered her a small, apologetic smile. She nodded and put her hand in her pocket to retrieve the keys to the SUV, she pulled them out and handed them to him. Without uttering a single word she stepped into the passenger side of the car, although there was a small part of her mind still unsure it was safe to let Bobby drive at all but she knew right now she was the worst choice for being the driver.

The ride back to parking garage at One Police Plaza had been a quiet but not uncomfortable one. Bobby knew that Alex needed time to think about it, and to be honest he was once again impressed with her quick thinking and sharp mind. He'd only just managed to get his gun out of his holster as she was pulling the trigger on hers, steadily on the target.

Watching her as she took in a deep breath; he put his hand on her arm as she reached for the door handle to let herself out of the car. "Eames... are you alright?" he finally asked, breaking the silence that had been between them.

Alex nodded, trying to convince him if not herself, "I'm fine." she sighed, "There was no other way it would've gone down. It's alright." She opened the door and stepped out, mentally preparing herself for what would happen when she reached the second floor. She'd already given her piece to one of the officers on the scene.

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Captain Jimmy Deakins sat down at his desk and sighed. He was staring at the phone, the conversation he'd just had was one of the most interesting ones that he'd ever had. He'd just discovered what had happened at the court house this afternoon and was pondering how he was going to deal with this.

He felt extreme apprehension when he saw Alex and Bobby walk into the squadroom. Bobby looked concerned and Alex looked incredibly fragile, which was unusual for her. Sighing, he managed to catch Bobby's attention and indicated with his hand that the two of them should join him in his office. He saw Bobby say something to Alex, who immediately looked at Deakins with worry, or at least that's what it looked like to him.

They walked into his office and he rubbed his face before finally speaking to them, "I just found out what happened, Alex." She was standing extremely stiff and she just nodded. "As far as I know it was a clean shooting despite the new information that just arrived to me."

"What - what new information?" Bobby asked, concerned and curious. Alex looked at them both with a puzzled expression on her face.

"It seems that the gun Chance Slaughter pulled out had an ..." this was incredibly hard for Deakins to say, he looked at Alex, his face showing how sorry he was. "The clip was completely empty, there wasn't a single bullet inside." Both he and Bobby watched as Alex's face became completely pale, the shock evident in the way her eyes seemed to become glazed - trapped in her own thoughts as the news shook her. She slowly folded her arms tight to her chest, as if it could protect her from her feelings. She looked down to the floor; her hair shielding her eyes from view of either of them.

She could still hear Bobby talking and could vaguely make out what he was saying, "Doesn't that support the fact that he just said it to get h-his father off the hook?"

"Even if we could try and use that as evidence - the death bed confession is just too strong." Deakins said, reasonably dismissing Bobby's thought. They both looked at Alex, who had not moved from that position. "Alex, IAB will want to talk to you tomorrow but that's all, okay. So, go home and get some rest..." Just as Deakins was finishing speaking, Alex suddenly moved, unfolding her arms she quickly grabbed the door handle and loudly closed the door behind her as she left the squadroom with such a force that everyone had no choice but watch her leave.

Deakins looked at Bobby, "You should go after her." he told her. Bobby stood up and reached the door before changing his mind and turning back to Deakins.

"Where is Logan?" He asked, causing Deakins head to snap up after he'd just started to look back down at his report.

"Logan?" Deakins was confused. What did he have to do with it? "Conducting interviews with Detective Barek, why?"

Bobby nodded, "Uh, Captain I need you to - to call him and tell him what's happened." Bobby then opened the door and went off on his search for his partner, knowing full well that when she didn't want to be found, there was no finding her. Deakins looked at Bobby's retreating figure and felt himself mentally scratch his head in confusion.

"Logan?" He asked himself and then it was like magic as it dawned on him, "Oh. Of course. Logan." Grabbing the phone he immediately called up Mike Logan's cell. Deakins had spotted the interaction between Mike and Alex, but he hadn't known it had gone somewhere until now.

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Alex Eames was sitting outside on a bench, her elbows on her knees and her face in her hands. Trying to steady herself by taking deep breaths but it wasn't working. The only thing keeping her sane was the cold chill in the air and the feeling of numbing frostbite in her toes, it was somehow comforting to feel herself lose a sensation or two. Maybe she was going mad after all. She could hear the evening rush hour traffic brushing past her a small distance away and she could feel the breeze wash all over her, biting her skin as it did so, turning her cheeks a light pink when she finally lifted her face from her hands. She watched as police officers were rushing out of the gates, desperate to get home to their families, and some were rushing in about to start the late shift. She felt a familiar presence beside her and she turned to him, not smiling, showing no emotion she just looked at him.

Bobby had sat down beside her and was watching her intensely but he didn't know what to say. He'd expected her to be harder to find so when he'd arrived outside the building and found her in less than 2 seconds he'd almost had the wind knocked out of him in shock. "Eames, you should go home." he told her, he knew it was true but he also knew it was unlikely she would listen to that kind of advice. Without disappointing him, she shook her head at his suggestion. "Eames!" he tried again but she just sighed.

"I don't see why." she finally spoke, her voice coarse and thick with emotion. It was a tribute to her that she didn't even show any of that emotion on her face.

"I'll drive you." he told her with determination. She looked at him as if to say he was mad.

She snorted, "I let you drive once and suddenly you think you can keep the keys." Her attitude had returned somewhat but her voice still betrayed her feelings. Bobby offered her a small smile at the attempted joke but he was serious about driving her home but she shook her head at him, equally matching his determination. Although that's what made them such great partners, it seemed it was a pain when they were trying to win an argument.

"I'll call Logan." he threatened, "What's his number?" he asked, reaching into her pocket for his phone. She didn't try to stop she just looked away from him.

"I'll bet you've already got Deakins calling him up." she said, knowing full well she was right when her partner stopped dialing his phone and snapped it shut. They knew each other a little too well and Bobby realised that his threat wasn't going to work. He put her cell back into her pocket. She looked at him and tried to give him a reassuring smile, "Look, I'm fine. I had no way of knowing that it was empty and I'm not going to sit here making excuses or trying to reason what happened. That's a waste of time. It _happened_." She stood up, quickly, and walked away from him. Ironically towards the parking garage where she kept her car. Bobby hoped that she was going home.

He looked down at his cell phone and realised that Mike's number would still be there so he dialed it up with the intention of telling him where Alex should be.

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It had taken Mike quite a bit of time before he finally managed to get away from work, as desperate as he had been, Deakins had told him that under no circumstances was he allowed to just leave his partner with a list of people to interview. Although Carolyn took pity on him and she had shortened the list somewhat so that they wouldn't take as long, she intended for them to continue tomorrow morning instead.

Mike rang her doorbell several times before she finally answered. When she answered the door, he took in her appearance and his worry grew. Her hair was in a bit of a tangle, her skin was pale and her eyes were wearing red stains from the obvious tears she had shed, although he knew she'd never admit it. She didn't say anything, she just opened the door to let him in and then let him close it behind himself.

Worried, he followed her into the kitchen to see that she was cooking what looked like bolognese sauce. He knew that spaghetti couldn't be too far behind. "What are you doing?" he had to ask her something, anything, just to get her to speak.

"Cooking." was her one word reply, as she didn't look up from what she was doing.

"Yeah, I can see that." he said, sarcastically. He sighed, and looked around the room. He then pulled his coat off and hung it on a dining chair that she was clearing using as a seat, obviously not intending to leave the kitchen anytime soon. "Look, I don't know everything that happened... but it's not your fault." he tried to get her to open up.

"How can it not be my fault?" She finally turned to him, snapping. "Who's fault was it? Gods?" She watched him as his face showed her how much that hurt him and she immediately regretted doing it. "I'm sorry but if you really want to stay then expect to be shouted at because I'm not in the mood!" she turned back around to her cooking, putting the minced beef in a saucepan, letting it begin to cook.

He pursed his lips together for a moment, trying to control himself, thinking about how he'd handle the situation and he knew that he'd do the same, he'd lash out at people but this wasn't going to help her, so he tried to come up with a way to snap her out of it. "Hey." he said, a little forcefully, taking some strides towards her. Holding back the urge to grab her arms and shake it out of her. "I'm not in the mood either! Let's go talk." She turned to him and she could see the resolve in his eyes.

"Mike..." she started but he stopped her.

"Listen, it's not your fault. I know you know that."

"I'm the one that pulled the trigger!" she argued, pointing towards herself as if she was the worst thing on the planet.

"But he didn't leave you much of a choice. You had to act on what you saw and you had to act fast." he told her, refusing to back down. Looking at her for a moment he then added, "Something's burning." She quickly looked away from him and saw that the mince beef was completely browned off already. She switched the hob off completely and walked out of the room.

Sighing, he turned and left the room in search for her. He didn't need to look for long, he found her sitting in the living room, holding her head in her hands. "Not hungry anymore?" he asked.

"No!" she said, without looking up. He didn't like to see her this way, he crossed the small space of the living area and sat down beside her, close. Gently putting his arm around he softly pulled her into his embrace offering some kind of comfort. She hesitated at first but then she lifted her head up and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. He could feel her body tremble as she tried to fight the tears that were threatening to come up once again. He gently stroked her back trying to soothe her because he couldn't think of what to say that would help.

After a few moments he began to feel something strange happening to his ear. Was he dreaming that? No, she _was_ nibbling on his ear with her teeth. "Alex?" he asked, feeling worried although he liked what she was doing, he knew she wasn't in the right frame of mind. She pulled back a little at the mention of her name and all he saw in her eyes was pure desire. She forcefully began kissing him, knocking Mike back a little bit. At first, he kissed her back, but that nagging voice at the back of his mind wouldn't leave him alone, so he tried to get her to stop. "Alex?"

"I want you." That was her only reply and it was simply mumbled into his mouth, and then she let go of his lips and began kissing his neck. He took a firm grip of her upper arms and pulled her away from him. "Don't you want me?" her voice was breathless, ragged and she was clearly becoming enthusiastic in what she wanted to be doing.

"Not like this." Was all that Mike could manage to say. He watched her as she processed that, she looked at him and all he could see in her eyes was hurt. He'd hurt her, he hadn't meant to but he had. "Listen, I _do _want you!" he smiled, "But not like this." She tried to pull away but he kept his grip on her arms. Tears were welling in her eyes as she looked at him. He was unsure if she was crying because of what had just happened or because of the original reason that had driven them into that situation; Chance Slaughter. "I do want you but not like this." he repeated. "This isn't right and I know you know that." Her body just seemed to slump against his and she began to let the tears fall and all he could do was hold her close to him as she cried it all out.

He liked to think that he'd come to know her really well and he knew that what was eating her up was that she'd taken a life for no reason and she tried to seek comfort in the only way she thought was possible at that point. Mike was more impressed with his ability to hold himself back than anything else.

He had held her in his arms for what felt like hours when she finally sat up straight and looked at him. She wiped her eyes and he offered her a smile. "I'm sorry, I didn't know what to say." he told her, and he hadn't, they'd just sat quietly, whilst he rubbed her back and kissed the top of her head.

She shook her head and gave him a small smile back. "You didn't have to say anything." he kissed her cheek and then pulled her back in a hug, resting their heads on each others shoulders.

After a small moment they pulled away from each other, "What'd you say we go make that spaghetti bolognese?" Mike asked, suddenly feeling hungry himself. She smiled and nodded in agreement. Standing up together they walked back into the kitchen to continue with the cooking she'd been doing before.

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TBC

( Reply to **Podie1 **- Yes, you have told me so, but I don't mind hearing it again ;) Thank you so much for stroking this writers ego. It helps me to continue. And yes I do plan to continue and even when this particular series ends, I certainly won't stop writing Mike/Alex fics. Oh, no, I start as I mean to go on.)


	2. Chapter 2

**Flesh and Blood**

After they'd eaten some food Mike had continued to hold her whilst they were sat on the sofa. She told him about how the gun Chance Slaughter had pulled out his weapon and that it had an empty clip inside and he'd tried to reassure her that there was no way she could have known that at the time. He'd given her some advice on how to handle IAB tomorrow and she'd told him how it felt like time had slowed down just after she'd pulled the trigger.

But now she'd fallen to sleep and he was trying to get up from the sofa without waking her up. He kept a hold of her head whilst he wiggled himself out of the seat, and then carefully standing up, he placed her head gently back onto the seat where he'd been sitting. Luckily the seat was warm so the touch of cold wouldn't wake her up. He grabbed the afghan from the corner chair and covered her with it. Mike then went into the kitchen to get his cell phone from his coat, staying in there he dialed Bobby's number to let him know that she was alright, not just because he'd asked him to but because he felt that Bobby would be pacing all night if he didn't. He'd been grateful and Mike promised he would stay with her tonight to make sure she was alright, but then he was planning on doing so anyway.

Sighing, he walked back into the living room and carefully took a firm hold of Alex and lifted her up. Not wanting to wake her but he didn't want her to have to sleep on the sofa. He carried her into her bedroom and laid her down onto it gently. Thankful that she'd already removed her shoes, he just pulled back the covers and put her into it with the clothes she was wearing. Then, without getting inbetween the covers, he just laid down beside her; watching. Her face free of all the worries that had been written on them just an hour before.

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Alex tried to move but she couldn't. She was being pinned down by something across her stomach. Without opening her eyes she began to feel around for what it could be. All she found was something cylinder shaped, with hair on it. It took her a few seconds to work out that it was an arm, her sleep filled mind remaining a few seconds behind herself. Blinking from the intruding light, she finally opened her eyes and she could see her alarm clock on the beside table.

She was on her side, with someones arm draped over her. She struggled for a moment as she tried to maneuver herself onto her back. When she did she turned her head to the other side to see Mike almost spooning her, deep in a peaceful sleep. It didn't escape her thoughts that this was the first time he'd been in her room for longer than a minute, that she was aware of, and it was definitely the first time they'd slept together in the same bed.

But then, Mike had stayed on top of the bed covers whilst she was inside them. She couldn't help it, she smiled at the way that made her heart jump and the feelings it had just envoked within her. Despite herself, she reached out her hand and stroked his cheek with her fingers. Lightly tracing his cheek bone and watched with a grin as his nose twitched and his eyes, still closed, seemed to react to the contact by stopping the movement of REM.

Quickly removing her hand, she realised that she'd woken him up but she hadn't intended on doing so. She watched him as his eyelids slowly opened and then changed their minds as the light penetrated his pupil. She smiled as she realised that Mike was quickly becoming aware of his surroundings, physically, and was retracting his arm from where he had laid it.

Mike had not meant to fall to sleep there, he'd only meant to watch her for a little while and then go to sleep on the sofa. He didn't want to ruin the relationship they'd spent many weeks trying to build up and his eyes quickly flew open just to see Alex, who looked half asleep, smiling at him, enjoying his reaction.

He sat up, leaning on his elbow, resting his head on his hand and looked at her; unsure what to say. "I'm sorry, I..." he started but his sentence faded when her smile grew bigger. He was becoming increasingly aware of where they were and it wasn't helping his concentration any. He was extremely grateful he'd not actually slipped inside the bed covers.

"It's okay." she told him, smiling still, unable to stop.

"I swear I'd only planned to stay a little while and then..." she put a finger to his lips to get him to stop. He kissed her finger and she pulled it back. "How are you feeling?" he ventured, remembering the events of the day before.

She sighed, but it wasn't heavy like before, she seemed to be relaxed. "I'm okay. Better now I've been to sleep." she told him, "I still feel sorry that he had - he had to die but I know it wasn't my fault." she looked at him and smiled, "I think I slept better with you here."

He grinned and then shook his head. "Nah, you would've slept just fine if I'd left." she shook her head and then he explained. "Yeah, you told me that once you sleep, you sleep but once you wake up you can't go back to sleep." Alex smiled, she did remembering saying something like that to him. "Which is why I tried so damn hard not to wake you up when I carried you into here!"

Alex smiled and sat up saying, "Aren't you sweet?" her voice full of humor and she spoke in a sweet, yet sarcastic voice.

Mike snorted, "Yeah don't tell anyone..."

Alex held up her hands, "I know, I know, you've got a rep to protect." she laughed as he nodded. He could tell she was definitely feeling better, clearly a good nights sleep was what she needed, just to allow herself to process it without getting worked up about it. She was about to continue speaking when they heard a phone ring. "Is that yours or mine?"

Mike's eyes grew wide when he looked at the clock beside her, "Oh no, it's mine!" He began pulling himself off the bed.

"What? What's wrong?" Alex asked, not moving.

"That'll be Barek, we cut the interview list short yesterday so that I could come to see you and I agreed to go in early with her to get caught up." Mike was trying to straighten himself up, his clothes had become twisted during the night and it seemed that was more than a wake up call for him. Alex started laughing at him, as he began fiddling with his trousers and straightening his shirt. "It's not funny!" Mike protested. She stood up out of bed and finally noticed she was still wearing yesterdays clothes. Again. "Sorry." he told her when he noticed she was looking down at her clothing in confusion, "I didn't think you'd want me stripping you." he said, the Logan grin plastered firmly to his face. She raised an eyebrow at his 'dirty' thinking and tried to keep the amused grin off of her face.

"You're right!" she replied with a smirk, she then walked over towards her wardrobe and pulled out some clothes. She walked past him with a grin on her face whilst she said, "Your chances of seeing me naked are slim to none, buddy!" she teased him, laughing at the priceless expression on his face. She then walked into her bathroom, locking the door behind her. Trying to shake himself out of it, he walked out of her room and went to retrieve his coat from the kitchen where he had left it the night before.

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Alex was stood in a darkly decorated room with a table at one end. This table looked like the kind of desk a panel of judges would sit at. Alex was in the middle of the room, refusing to sit in the lone chair that sat in the middle of the room, facing the desk. She was stood up straight and the only sign of her nerves were her fingers tapping her thighs as she kept her arms straight. She hoped that it would be simple and over, she'd get her piece back and it all would be just kept on record. What she didn't want was them to say it would require further investigation; that usually meant that they suspected foul play and were unsure.

She suddenly wished that she and Mike had stayed in that bed together, wrapped up in blankets and his arm across her stomach. She actually like it but she could tell that Mike seemed on edge, knowing they weren't ready to be sharing beds together. She was interrupted from her musings when the door opened and three, very smartly dressed men walked into the room. Neither of them looking at her as they took their seats.

She watched as the man sitting in the middle, a thin, business-esque man wearing thin framed glasses, opened the folder in front of him. Her folder; she recognised the picture paperclipped to the front. "So, who do we have here?" another man asked, as if she was a number waiting in line. This man had a bigger build than his colleague in the middle.

"We have Detective Alexandra Eames, Major Case Squad, under the command of..." he checked the file, "Captain James Deakins." He looked at Alex for confirmation, she gave a curteous nod. "Badge number: 3798." the man at the other end was making notes on what was being said. Alex assumed he was taking the 'minutes' of this interview.

"We've interviewed everyone else who was at the scene. Now we just want to hear your version of events." The man in the middle told her. Alex had to hold back a retort when he said 'version'. Instead, she plunged straight into the explanation of events, ticking each one off like an itinerary, starting from the moment they were outside the court house to the moment she had fired her weapon. They were nodding as she was speaking and she couldn't decide whether that was positive or negativity nodding. When she had finished speaking she just remained silent whilst the man taking the notes caught up with what was being said.

"Why did you perceive Mr Slaughter to be a threat?"

Alex had to hold back the urge to roll her eyes at the man, she'd already said that, and personally she thought it was obvious. "Because he had pulled out his weapon and was aiming it at Anna Slaughter."

They looked at each other and then he asked another question, "You had no way of knowing the clip was empty?"

Alex couldn't help but wonder if they thought she was a pyschic, how could she know that? "No, I had no way of knowing." They looked at each other again.

"Did it not occur to you that you fired your weapon into a crowd of people?" he asked, almost insulting. Alex really did regret getting out of bed this morning but was thankful that she hadn't sat in the chair because that would've added to her feeling of being small right now. Alex raised her eyebrow at the man and she could feel herself sigh, even though she tried not to.

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Mike Logan, Carolyn Barek and Bobby Goren were sat in one of the interview rooms at the Major Case Squadroom drinking coffee and tucking into a pizza. Carolyn and Mike were going over interview notes and Bobby was filling out his, and Alex's, reports on the case they'd just 'finished'. Unfortunately it wasn't the best kind of result, and the case had been forced closed so the subject wouldn't leave Bobby's mind.

"They've had her for hours!" Mike said, rubbing his temple, as he flipped over another piece of paper. They'd all begun to get worried about Alex, which is why they were now in a seperate room from the bullpen to try to get some peace.

"I know." Bobby replied, "But there's... nothing we can do except wait." not taking his eyes off his work.

"Bastards." Mike muttered, not hiding his hate for IAB.

"Mike." Carolyn warned, looking at him.

"Well they are, Barek. You're not going to change my mind." Bobby finally looked up from his work to watch the exchange between the two partners.

"They have a purpose, imagine what it would be like if they weren't here. They help to uphold the rules and regulations." Carolyn reasoned, quietly.

"Whatever, they're just a bunch of suit wearing, meglomaniacs who think they can take one look at an officer and decide their fate. They have too much power, Barek, and trust me, I know." Mike told her, pointing to himself referring to his own experiences with IAB. "Alex didn't do anything wrong but they'll eat her up for it anyway."

"You're right." Bobby said, joining in the conversation, "She didn't do anything wrong. She'll be back here soon and then we can all get back to work."

Mike looked at him for a moment and then back at Barek. They shared a look of agreement, "Who knew you were such an optimist?" Mike asked, watching as his friend just looked at him for a moment.

When he finally answered they all smiled, "Eames taught me." he nodded. They were interrupted from speaking further when the door opened and Captain Deakins walked in. His face looked grim and he was holding his spectacles in one hand. He heavily sat down, rubbing his eyes and looking at each one of them in turn.

"You look like the bearer of bad news." Mike said, sourly.

"I'm afraid that I am." He told them, he almost looked depressed. "It seems that IAB have not finished with Alex at all."

"What?!" All three spoke in unison, the shock evident in the pitch that the question was asked.

"They've told her to go home, the situation is going to be investigated further. But she's also been told to minimise contact with anyone from Major Case." Deakins told them, sadly. "And... they've taken her badge."

"How much of - of a minimise?" Bobby asked, asking the question he knew that was all of their minds.

Deakins just looked at them and several beats passed before he finally spoke. "To the point of zero." He looked at Bobby and Mike. "That includes the two of you."

"They took her badge?" Carolyn asked, "So she's been suspended?" Deakins nodded. Mike's eyes were closed and he was sighing heavily. Trying to control himself before he exploded.

"I've been told it's all for her own protection." Deakins replied, nodding in response to her question.

"Yeah, right!" Mike exclaimed, obviously he didn't believe that fact. He then turned to Carolyn, "Now do you believe me?"

"Have you spoken to her?" Bobby asked, worried for the well-being of his partner. Deakins shook his head. "She's not allowed to speak to you."

"No, and I'm ordering each and every single one of you to not call her, that includes everyone who is a member of this squad. You are not allowed to make contact with her! Don't make this harder for her than it already is." He told them, in a commanding voice that told them he was being deadly serious. Deakins looked at Mike, and put a hand on his arm. "I'm sorry, Mike, that includes you too." Mike was angry and it was obvious to them all.

"Yeah." he stood up and headed for the door.

"Don't contact her!" Deakins called behind him.

"I'm not going to!!" Mike called behind himself as he shut the door and walked straight out of the squadroom. Deakins looked at Bobby, who just rubbed his face in frustration.

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TBC

I'm sorry, I couldn't help but throw in a little angst and catch you all off-guard. Don't worry, it won't last long... ;) I don't know if IAB could do something like that but as far as my story is concerned they do.

Happy Halloween to those that celebrate all things scary.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N - I have an arsenal, hehe. For some reason that just made me laugh but that's what I'm calling it from now on.

Here's chapter 3.

**Flesh and Blood**

Pacing.

More pacing.

That was all she could do. The anger within wouldn't let her sit, it wouldn't let her speak, it wouldn't let her relax and it wouldn't even let her eat or drink anything. Alex was seeing red. Her hands clenched into fists as she tried desperately to control the rage that was burning within her soul. Her energy levels must have been in hyperdrive because she couldn't stop pacing. Her mind was racing and her heartbeat wasn't even at a steady, regular pulse.

It didn't bother her that they'd wanted to investigate further, what bothered her was that not only had she been suspended but they refused to allow her to make any kind of contact with anyone at Major Case and the frustrating part was that Mike was apart of that. It made her want to hysterically begin laughing until she felt herself run out of the energy, but she couldn't even do that. Without thinking, she grabbed her glass on the coffee table and threw it towards the nearest wall.

The glass shattering into too many pieces to be ever put back together. She looked at it and suddenly wondered what the hell she was doing. Why was she doing that? Throwing objects wouldn't help, it'd only mean she'd have to replace them later. Looking around the empty room she suddenly came to a decision and it didn't involve staying here.

She moved with haste, grabbing her coat and car keys, leaving the house and the broken glass.

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Mike Logan was also pacing, except for he wasn't at home; he was outside 1PP. He was once again finding another reason to hate the IAB, and this time there was no sense in their decision whatsoever. He coudn't understand the benefit of keeping her out of contact with any of her work colleagues, but then he figured the IAB just liked to punish people and this was a new way they'd come up with to do so.

He was also worried about Alex, he knew what it was like to be in trouble, to be suspended and not know what's going to happen to your career and have everything put on hold whilst rich people in suits made a decision that could make or break your life. He was all too aware of the fact that it can sometimes make you believe that you really did deserve it and considering her feelings of guilt that she already harboured, this wasn't going to be helpful.

The difference between him and Alex was that she really didn't do anything wrong, as far as she was concerned at the time she was stopping a man from killing an innocent woman. She had been doing her job.

He had to find a way to find out if she was okay without getting her into anymore trouble.

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"So, let's get this straight." John Eames, Alex's father, said whilst he, Alex and his eldest daughter, Katie, sat in the living room of his home after Alex had suddenly turned up needing a hell of a lot of calming down. "They've suspended you whilst they investigate and you're not allowed to contact _anyone_?" Alex nodded, gripping the cup of tea that her sister had made as if it were a lifeline.

"So by contact they mean...?" Katie asked, unsure, she wasn't a cop and despite the fact she'd grown up around them she never paid attention to anything they said.

"They mean phones, talking, seeing, any kind of contact." Alex replied, "I was almost certain they were going to pull out a restraining order." her tone of voice dry as the sarcasm just fell from her lips.

"Okay, well, honey you've just got to play it their way, stay here. You'll get your badge back." Her father tried to comfort her. Alex sighed, putting the cup down, putting her face into her hands as she tried to calm herself. Katie and John were sitting either side of her, Katie put her arm around Alex's shoulders and John put a hand on her arm, both wanting to comfort her knowing she'd never respond to words.

A thought suddenly hit Katie and she looked at her sister with concern, John noticed and he mouthed 'what?'. Katie shook her head and then said, "Alex, is Mike included in that?" Alex nodded, not moving her hands, not saying anything. That hadn't even occured to John but he realised that that would make her feel worse. "Well, I'll bet he's kicking up a real storm now huh?" Katie said, her words intended as humor and it did the trick because Alex laughed a little. Especially when she imagined what he was doing. "And Bobby too!" John shook his head, with a small laugh, at Katie's attempt at cheering her sister up. Katie had always been the one who was a good judge of character and her main impression of Mike was that if anything didn't quite go right, he'd try to sort it out or get angry about it if he couldn't. Although she knew Bobby was softer than that, she did think that if the right buttons were pushed he'd do the same.

"You are staying here, aren't you?" John asked, really hoping she was staying. He didn't want her going home to be alone at a time like this.

Alex nodded, "Yeah."

"Well good because I was planning on making chocolate cake and trifle. You can help me." Katie told her with determination. "That way we can make a mess and Dad can clean it up!" Katie grinned at her father who rolled his eyes at the very thought of being, once again, forced to clean up after their mess.

So that's what they did, although Alex wasn't very talkative throughout the whole time whilst they were making them, Katie did have fun and Alex at least seemed to be okay, and no where near as upset as she had been when she'd turned up at the house looking ready to punch the living daylights out of anyone who even stepped forward to challenge her. Whilst they had been doing that Steve, her brother, had come over to visit and once he'd been informed about what had happened he'd blown up about it. He then disappeared, which confused them all, but considering it was Steve it was hardly a big thing. Steve was a man who was in his own world.

Later in the evening Alex, Katie and John were in the living room when the doorbell rang making Katie jump a little out of her skin. John stood up and left the two of them watching TV whilst he went to answer the door. Katie and Alex paid attention, however, when her father walked in carrying the biggest bouquet of flowers either had seen. "Alex, these are for you." he told her and placed them at her feet. The flowers were already in a vase and whoever sent them must have spent some serious money on them. Katie looked at Alex, matching puzzled expressions.

"Who'd be sending you flowers? Here?" Katie asked, confused. Alex shrugged and bent down, spotting the card, picking it out and reading it to herself.

_"Thinking of you. I shouldn't have answered that call this morning." _were the words printed on the card.

They watched with concern as Alex's puzzled expression turned into a smile and then it dropped and it was replaced with sadness. "What is it, honey?"

Alex looked at her, feeling a little lightheaded, "They're from Mike." her voice was almost a whisper.

"Mike?" Her father asked, incredulously. "How does he know you're here?" Alex passed the card over to her sister to let her read but she looked at her father and shrugged.

"I don't know."

"It doesn't say his name." Katie said, after a moment of reading. "How do you know they're from him?" she frowned in confusion.

Alex took the card off her and shrugged again, "I just do." she put the card back into the flowers and grabbed them, standing up, she walked out of the room and headed upstairs to be alone for a while.

"How did he know she was here?" Katie asked her father, not able to put her mind around it. Alex had been suspended long before she'd turned up their house, there was no way Mike could've known where she was.

"Well he's a smart guy I'm sure he would've... Steve!" John sat up straight and looked at Katie with that look he used to have on his face when one of his children had done something wrong and she'd seen that look often because he'd had six children. Katie looked puzzled at him, hoping he'd explain. "Steve was here earlier." she nodded, she already knew that, "And I caught him looking through Alex's cell." Katie was surprised by that; Steve had never been a snoop. "Then he just left."

"So?" Katie asked, the train of thought moving far too fast for her to jump onboard.

"So... Steve must've taken Mike's number from her phone and called him." John connected the dots for her but Katie wasn't convinced.

"Dad, that's a bit of a stretch, don't you think?"

"Well, what else would he have been doing?" John asked, trying to reason with her.

"Reading her messages?" Katie offered, knowing immediately that that was a stupid idea. John shook his head and Katie nodded, defeated, she knew her father was right. "Why that sneaky little devil!" she said after a few beats, "I love him!!!" John chuckled; he was truly thankful for Steve's excellent timing and for the beautiful way that Mike had allowed Alex to know that he was thinking about her and worried for her all the same, and as much as she was thinking about him.

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When Katie walked into the girls' room upstairs, holding a tray that held some chocolate cake, trifle and some tea, the first thing she spotted was the state of mess that the room was in. "Alex?" she called out, wondering just where she was because she couldn't see her. She heard someone mumbled something along the lines of 'here' but it wasn't easy to understand. "I've brought some goodies up, sweetie." Katie said, in the soft kind voice that she always used.

Finally spotting Alex, she walked over to her. Alex was sitting next to a bed, out of the way of anyone who could see her. Katie sat down beside her on the floor, putting the tray down between them. Alex noted the fact there was two of everything so either she thought Alex was greedy or her sister planned to stay with her. "You okay?" Katie asked, taking in the unusually white pallor of her sister. Alex nodded in response, she clearly wasn't in the mood for talk but Katie didn't plan on leaving her alone upstairs for any minute longer.

Katie spotted the flowers that Mike had sent; still wrapped in the paper although it had been pulled down. They were on the floor, less that half a metre away from them. "They're beautiful." enthused Katie, a smile on her face when she took in the massive array of colours that spanned the entire bouquet. Either Mike didn't know what colour she liked best or he wanted to just spoil her rotten.

Alex nodded, "Yes, they are." this pleased Katie because it meant that at least Alex was responding verbally to someone. She'd been a little concerned that her sister had turned into a mute; even though she knew that was highly unlikely - Katie was prone to irrational thinking.

"So, did you throw some stuff about?" Katie asked, using her thumb to point behind her, indicating towards the massive mess of clothes, bears and toys.

Alex scanned the room once and then shook her head, "No, that was already there." she then added, sarcastically. "I did consider throwing a bear but it wouldn't have that satisfying crash." Katie frowned, and Alex decided to explained, "Oh, see, I threw a glass at home and it made this fantastic sound as it hit the wall." Her sarcasm was pushed into overdrive, her entire sentence was dripping with it.

Katie laughed, "I'm sure it made a mess too." They remained silent for a few minutes, nibbling on crumbs of cake and sipping tea. Katie then decided to speak, "So, do you think they'll take a long time to reach their decision?"

Alex shrugged, "I don't know. They've got to re-interview everyone." she let out a sarcastic, short laugh. "That's probably why I'm not allowed to speak to anyone... just in case I influence their statements."

"Hopefully it won't take long." Katie told her, hoping to inject some positivity into her spirits. "At least you have some pretty flowers!" Alex laughed and hugged her sister, grateful for the fact she was her.

----------------------

Mike, Bobby and Carolyn were sat at a booth in a bar, near to Mike's home. Carolyn and Bobby had taken it upon themselves to try to cheer the poor guy up. So they'd dragged him there as soon as work had finished. Although Bobby was struggling with the absence of his partner, he knew that Mike was having more of a tough time with it then perhaps even he expected. In the two days that had passed since Alex had been suspended, Mike had grown increasingly more aggitated and as a result he was much easier to irritate and it was starting to get on Carolyn's nerves. Although Mike was never known for being an easy guy to get a long with for most people, unless you knew him well enough, but now he was worse.

Mike didn't really want to go, but he didn't want to look like a sap. Since he'd sent her the flowers though he knew it was okay, although he hadn't told anyone that Alex's brother had got into contact with him - telling him where she was and if she was okay. Since then, Steve has phoned Mike every day to give him a 'report' on how Alex is and they've even passed on messages through him. Nothing substantial or anything that revealed emotion, Mike couldn't do that through a middle-man no matter how desperate he was.

"So, have you been re-interviewed yet?" Mike asked Bobby, as he took a large gulp of his beer.

Bobby nodded, "They've interviewed me several times."

"Checking for inaccuracy." Carolyn theorised and Bobby nodded again.

"What? They think you're lying?" Mike scoffed, not surprised about IAB thinking that but it would've surprised him if Bobby actually lied.

"I guess so." Bobby shrugged, "But there's no reason to." Bobby was rubbing his mouth with his hands, in thought, thinking about the event that had happened and how it could've gone differently. There had been several times over the past few days where he wished he'd been the one to pull the trigger and not her. He actually missed her acerbic wit.

"I've heard that the Chief of D's is unhappy with what's happened." Carolyn informed them, in that quiet voice she has, that despite it's low level is full of more intelligence than most and it always seems to impact more than it should. "Apparently he's insisting the situation be resolved quickly."

"That makes sense." Mike agreed, "Since she and Bobby have one of the best solve rates of the city." Bobby refused to comment on that apparent 'fact'. Bobby never thought about it as a statistic, it was his job, nothing less.

Bobby jolted a little, causing the other two to look at him with concern and surprised. "Are you okay?" Carolyn asked, worried.

"Uh... yes." He replied, slowly, he then pulled his phone out of his trouser pocket. "I- I have it on ... vibrate." This caused Mike to start laughing at him. "Goren." he answered the phone, ignoring Mike completely. "When? ... Thank you." Bobby ended the call and looked at them, as they waited for an explanation, but Bobby just sat there, as if he was still thinking about what had been said.

"Well?" Mike asked, getting impatient.

"Oh... right. IAB have made their decision." Bobby informed them but didn't continue, not until he felt Mike kick his shin under the table. "Uh... the - the suspension has been lifted. Eames is free to come back to work tomorrow."

Mike growled in frustration, "Why didn't you say something straight away?!" Although they knew the answer to that, Bobby had been too busy thinking about it, so it didn't occur to him to say it immediately. Bobby couldn't help but feel some pride that he'd teased the man without even intending to. Mike stood up and grabbed his coat.

"Mike? Where are you going?" Carolyn called after him, but he didn't reply because he was already out the door. Carolyn looked at Bobby, "I guess we're paying for the drinks." Bobby offered her a small smile and handed her some money, which she gratefully took. Bobby then reopened his cell phone and decided to dial Alex's number and hopefully beat Mike to the punch. He wanted to break the 'non contact' first.

Shame he didn't know about the flowers though.

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TBC


	4. Chapter 4

And here's chapter 4 and it's a small one but I wanted it seperate from Chapter 3 for some reason. (I like the number 4!)

**Flesh and Blood**

Alex had been told by IAB directly, they had called her in and although her father wanted to go with her, she had decided to do it alone. Not wanting anyone there to see her reaction to their decision. Concerned that if it turned out to be worst possible scenario she might've broken down there and then; she didn't need the embarrassment.

However it had turned out to be best case scenario, her badge safely back in her posession and her piece locked away, also in her posession. She was now at home picking up the remains of glass fragments that were scattered near to the wall of her living room. Although there had been water in the glass at the time that had splashed and left the floor and wall wet; it was now dry as a bone. She had not gone home in two days because her father didn't want her to be alone; he probably thought she'd do something stupid, that's what Alex believed anyone although he'd never be able to bring himself to say it.

She gasped as a sharp piece of glass pierced the skin of her thumb as she tried to pick it up. It stung a little as blood began flowing from the small prick that the glass had caused. She stood up and started towards her kitchen but she heard the doorbell ring and did a 180 turn to walk to the door instead. Reaching it she was careful not to get blood on the doorhandle. She opened the door and ... every other thought was lost.

She stood there staring at the man before her, she couldn't believe he was here so soon. One thought that managed to come to the surface was that she'd hoped to get the glass cleaned up before he had arrived.

She could feel her heart pounding and she couldn't decide whether to move or not. Would he move? Should I move? Looking at him she could see that he didn't know what to do either. She desperately wanted to pull him into a tight embrace and never let go, but she was still in there somewhere. She stood aside, and without words, invited him. He slowly walked in, never taking his eyes off her, she never took her eyes off him. She closed the door, briefly turning to face the door before turning back. The instant her eyes met his again he was immediately wrapping his arms around her. She could feel his hands on her sides, his arms so long that they almost wrapped around her fully.

She couldn't move. She didn't dare move and she certainly didn't dare speak. She just wanted to stay like that, in his arms, safe. His scent surrounded her and as she rested her head on his chest she could hear his heart beat. Nothing caused them to move until she realised that the blood from her wound was on his neck; his flesh.

As she pulled her hand away he took it in his and looked at her with a puzzled expression. She turned her head towards the mess on the floor and he was amused, breaking the silence he said, "So, you decided to take up some pitching?" She laughed, "What were you aiming for? Because if not the wall then you missed!" she was still laughing when he pulled her back into his arms. She appreciated the fact he didn't say something serious; that he didn't go all soppy on her.

Despite that she still wanted to say the words she wanted to say sinced she'd received her gift from him, somehow she knew that kind of stuff was supposed to come from her anyway, not him. "Thank you for the flowers." She could feel him shift slightly and she stood back a little to see his face, not taking their arms from around each other.

"I wanted to try my hand at old fashioned romance." he shrugged, "How did I do?"

She smiled at him, not taking her eyes off his, "You did great."

He looked pleased with himself and grinned. "Good." he then took her hand and led her to the sofa. Sitting her down, he grabbed a tissue from the box on the table and handed it to her. She used it to wrap around her thumb. "How are you?" he asked, his face turning serious.

"I'm alright now. It was a little touch and go there for a while but I'm okay." She replied, nodding. "I think Steve's little scheme helped a little."

Mike laughed, "Yeah, Steve is _the _man!" this caused Alex to burst out laughing, a really good laugh that she hadn't done since she'd fired her weapon on Chance Slaughter three days ago. Whilst she was laughing he began to wonder where Bobby was, he thought he'd have either turned up just before him or immediately after. "To be honest, I expected Goren to beat me here." He changed the subject after she'd settled down and was confused with the grin that formed on her face. "What?"

"He did beat you. Verbally, anyway." She replied with the grin still there. Mike tried to pretend to be upset but in truth he'd expected just as much. Mike just snorted his disapproval at being beaten before laughing with her over it.

-----------------

"I missed you."

They were in the kitchen attempting to make Lasagne together when those three words had been uttered by him; in a low deep voice. Alex's head shot up from stirring the sauce as soon as he'd spoken them. Once again, Mike had caught her by surprise as she hadn't expected any kind of admission from him tonight. She turned to look at him slowly only to see that he hadn't looked up, he hadn't stopped what he was doing. He was still chopping up some salad ingredients to go with the Lasagne.

Turning back to the sauce she continued to stir it to stop it from burning to pan. Keeping an eye on him through her peripheral vision she just said, "I missed you too." She saw his pretense of nonchalance falter a little but it was up within a second. She pulled the saucepan away from the heat and took the dish intended to bake the Lasagne in. She poured some sauce into the pan and then took some sheets of Lasagne and layered them over the top. Without looking up and without showing any sign of her intentions, she took a sheet and threw it in his direction.

She was more than satisfied when he finally made more of a movement. He hadn't seen that one coming and she was pleased with herself. She then poured more sauce into the dish and added another layer of sheets. Whilst she was doing that she felt something hit her on the arm. Looking down she saw a piece of cucumber at her foot. She looked at Mike who was trying to stifle a grin. Alex smirked and chucked another sheet of lasagne at him.

When he shot back with a tomato she'd ducked and it had hit the cupbard door instead. Letting a short, amused laugh she turned to him and picked up two sheets and tossed them at him. Since he'd turned to face her to fire the tomato, the pasta hit him squarely on the chest. He grinned as he grabbed a handful of lettuce and launched the whole bundle towards her.

As far as she could tell it was raining lettuce. Not wanting to be beaten she noticed the open jar of white lasagne sauce that had yet to be placed onto the dish sticking her hand in whilst Mike tossed another tomato at her. She used her arm to catapult some sauce into the air and it landed in his face. And although her hand was covered in the sauce too it still felt like a victory. Mike wiped his face with the sleeve of his arm and tried to give her that I'm-not-amused face, but it didn't work. Alex just started laughing at him. "Right, that's it!" he almost shouted, deeply. Grabbing the entire salad bowl, thankfully plastic, he crossed the distance between them and, gently, dropped it on her head. The contents of the bowl spilling out, falling onto the floor, and covering her hair and clothes

He then removed the bowl and put it on the counter. He was finding it hilarious that she was still laughing. Somehow, although unintentional, he'd not only cheered her up but he'd cheered himself up too. She took her sleeve and wiped some white sauce from his nose, still laughing though. He began pulling lettuce out of her hair. "I did miss you." she told him, sincerely, after her laughing had subsided.

"I know." he told her, "And I did miss you too." pulling the last piece of lettuce from her hair. With a grin he added, "Who won?"

"Let's call it a tie-breaker." she replied, giving him a gentle kiss. "Especially since you now have to make more salad." she laughed as he groaned. She kissed him again and he put a hand on the small of her back. She felt herself tingle at the contact and pulled away from him slightly. Smiling at each other, they parted and returned to the tasks they had been doing before they had had the food fight that Alex would probably later deny that she started.

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Let me know what you think.


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